In the packaging of products such as bottles, cans, pouches or other similar articles, it is common for such products to be packaged in paperboard cartons, such as to form twelve packs, twenty-four packs, or other similar package configurations. Such cartons can be fed into a packaging machine and wrapped about the products or articles being packaged, with the lower or bottom edges of the cartons folded under and either glued or locked together by the engagement of locking tabs with locking recesses formed therein. Alternatively, for packaging selected groups of products, such as twelve packs of cans or bottles, or for packaging other larger and/or irregularly shaped articles, such as frozen pizzas, juice pouches, etc., the cartons typically can be formed into pre-glued sleeves having open ends. These pre-glued sleeves generally are pulled from a stack or supply, opened, and fed into a packaging machine. The products then will be inserted, typically through one end of the sleeve, and the sleeve ends folded and glued shut.
One drawback of utilizing cartons into the pre-glued sleeves for product packaging applications, however, is that such pre-formed sleeves typically are more expensive to produce than conventional stamped or die cut wrapped carton sheets. After stamping or cutting, the carton blanks must be folded and their side edges glued together to form the carton sleeves, which accordingly results in increased costs from a materials and manufacturing standpoint, due to the additional glue required to form the sleeves, and in the need for additional folding and gluing equipment. Further, since the carton sleeves are formed by the folding over of the carton blank material, the carton sleeves generally are thicker than single sheet die cut blanks, and also need to be shipped in cases. As a result, shipping such carton sleeves in cases typically takes up a significantly greater amount of space when stacked on pallets for transportation and storage. This can require additional material handling to arrange and stack the cartons in cases, which, with the cost of the case, further increases the costs of manufacture thereof. Conversely, flat blank cartons can be stacked directly on pallets, eliminating the need for pre-gluing the sleeves or packing of the cartons in cases for transport. However, applying or wrapping such flat blank cartons about products typically can require more precision in the handling, folding, and tucking of the carton panels and locking mechanisms or flaps during formation of the cartons about the products, thus, slowing production rates.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a system and method for packaging various types of products or articles in a series of cartons that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.